Fujifilm Finepix F450

Ease of Use

Upon first sight the Fujifilm FinePix F450 looks like a cut-down
version of the FinePix
F610 Zoom, being more square in shape yet having the same
kind of brushed aluminum finish to the body and very similar
external controls. It is extremely similar to the older 3 megapixel Fujifilm FinePix F420, with a few changes made to the control layout.

As with the FinePix F610 and F420 cameras, you will either love or hate
the square format of the Fujifilm FinePix F450 , which isn't the
most natural to hold if you're used to more conventional cameras.
I found the best method was to support the top-left hand corner
of the camera with my forefinger/middle finger and the bottom
of the camera with my left hand thumb, then operate the zoom
and shutter release controls with my right hand. Despite being
very small in size, I didn't find it too small to operate
the Fujifilm FinePix F450, and I loved the fact that it easily
fits into a trouser pocket.

The Fujifilm FinePix F450 is very well constructed, being built
of a mixture of brushed aluminum and a few plastic parts.
It certainly looks very stylish and will no doubt impress
your friends, although the battered review sample that I had was showing a few signs of surface wear and tear. Unfortunately the various buttons on the rear
of the camera are a little on the small side and may be fiddly
to operate if you have large hands.

Play / Movie / Camera Modes

Macro/Left Button / Zoom Button / Flash/Right Button

One of the most immediate and striking things about the Fujifilm FinePix F450 is the large LCD screen that dominates the back
of the camera. The screen is a bright 2 inch colour TFT
LCD monitor with 154,000 pixels and 97% scene coverage, which makes composing pictures
and movies very easy. The large LCD is a little difficult
to use in bright sunlight, but you can always use the small but bright optical viewfinder
instead.

The second impressive thing about the Fujifilm FinePix F450 is
the way that you turn it on. Instead of having a boring power
button like many cameras, you turn the Fujifilm FinePix F450 on
by sliding a panel on the front of the camera (marked Finepix)
from left to right. As you do so, a small white LED next to the zoom lens lights up for a few seconds! It's certainly one of the the
most innovative ways of turning a camera on that I've yet seen,
although it's perhaps not as quick as just pressing a button.

Like virtually all digital cameras the Fujifilm FinePix F450 has a Menu
button on the rear of the camera which, as you would expect,
gives you access to the software menu system. This lets you
set various parameters including focusing, sharpness and white
balance. As with most other Fujifilm digital cameras, there is also a blue F button (the Photo Mode button) which is positioned to the
right of the LCD screen. Pressing this button opens the Photo
Mode menu, which allows you to set the file quality, ISO speed
and colour settings (B&W, Chrome or Standard). I'm not
really sure why these 3 settings alone should fall under the
heading of Photo Mode, and things like white balance and sharpening
are just part of the standard menu. And I'm undecided about
whether it is a good idea or not. The F button does give quick
access to certain features, but you do have to memorise what
another button does.

Photo Mode Button / Menu/OK Button / Display/Back Button

Strap Eyelet / Sliding Power Button

The main menu system on the Fujifilm FinePix F450 is as well designed as previous Fujfilm digicams that I have reviewed. There is a horizontal row of icons along the bottom of the screen, which when selected reveal the options for that particular function, which you then access by scrolling up and down. Very easy to see and access, especially on the Fujifilm FinePix F450 as there aren't actually that many options to choose from. In addition to the Photo Mode button mentioned above, there are a couple of other features that you won't find in the main menu, which are accessed by pressing the left and right arrows on the arrow pad. These are the macro and flash functions.

The start-up time of the Fujifilm FinePix F450 , from turning the camera on to being ready to take a photo, is very quick at around 0.50 seconds. The 3.4x zoom lens takes less than 0.75 seconds to zoom from the widest focal length to the longest. The zooming mechanism is a little on the noisy side, but not so noticeable that you will attract unwanted attention. Focusing, confirmed by a green LED next to the optical viewfinder as well as on the LCD screen, is very quick in good light and not too bad at all indoors or in low-light situations. The LCD screen is bright and clear and the refresh rate is fine. The screen of my review camera did have a hot pixel though. Storing an image is snappy at around 0.50 seconds. The F450 doesn't have any continuous shooting or focusing modes, so this is a camera for slow moving subjects only. All in all the Fujifilm Finepix F450 is more than acceptable in terms of its general operational speed.

Speaker / USB Connector / Tripod Mount

Battery Compartment

Once you have captured a photo, the Fujifilm Finepix F450 has an above average range of options for playing, reviewing and managing your images. You can scroll through the images that you have taken, view thumbnails, play slideshows with various effects, and zoom in and out of the image. You can also add an audio clip to each image, delete an image, trim an image, lock images so that they cannot be deleted, and set various printing options. The most important missing feature is a histogram (both before taking a photo and after) which would be a great help in evaluating the exposure.

Overall the Fujifilm FinePix F450
is a very stylish and well-built digital camera that
will definitely appeal to all you gadget-lovers out
there, although the small external buttons and unusual square
format may put some people off. The Fujifilm FinePix F450's
tiny size and light weight makes it a camera that you can
put in your pocket and forget about until you need it.

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Fujifilm FinePix F450 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.